ZEENA is an artist, activist and mystic currently living in Germany. What I find especially fascinating and inspiring about her is her ability to change and grow with the times. Born into daunting circumstances, she managed not only to rise above them, but to re-invent herself despite what I surmise might be abominable pulls toward lethargy and abject nostalgia.

​In one of her texts, “Demons of the Flesh” she explores the metaphysics of eroticism. Not simply focusing on Hermeticism and the usual occult fare, she also looks at the important contributions of French philosophy (in the form of Georges Bataille) and other, vital strands of evidence… ultimately sharing experiential knowledge and suggesting one use one’s own as guide.

Zeena Schreck is very beautiful. And her awareness of this is not simple, nor yet affected. She presents herself and her energy in a very straight-forward way which is refreshing in itself, but which, upon closer inspection, reveals the gentle touch of a survivor helping others survive. The first thing one does when confronted with the prospect of extinction, naturally, being human, is panic. When this happens to a group, the result is collective hysteria. Perhaps her experiences during the 1980’s allowed her to see such circumstance unfold around her (and their manipulation and co-opting by nefarious forces of self-interest) in such a way that she holds a tender regard for the possibility of others going through them as well, but she has a gentle touch, which belies a fierce mind and steely core.

ZEENA’s art is fascinating. Maintaining a lucid awareness between the mediated roles of artist and academic, theorist and practitioner, her art is yet generous enough to question such ambiguity. Her piece “Ladders” questions not only Euclidian Geometry, but the formalist expansion of Western Metaphysics it stands for. How is one to “rise” in a society based upon questionable heirarchies, where, for instance, Social Justice and Reform is not necessarily based upon the injuries sustained by victims but sometimes just as likely the power of the accused? Recalling Feudal Warfare - Caste System Dynamics and other illusory states of “Maya” the piece is yet presented in soothing tones and inviting poetics of space. It’s as if ZEENA were leaving behind an Easter Egg, something someone could enjoy at whatever level of development they had attained to in dealing with it, yet something which also continued to reward dilligent and patient effort.

The future for ZEENA will hopefully contain more expansion. It will be very lucky for the Artist community and every other group or individual she manages to touch with her sincere and powerfully articulated grace if she continues to thrive and generously shine upon us!​-STANLEY GEMMELL* * * * * * *Gallery contacts and for commissioned art by Zeena contact: info@zeena.eu

Brought to you by HEINZFELLER NILEISIST, the same artist who presentedThe Zaum of Zeena at last year's NY Art Book Fair. Designed by Frank Haines in cooperation with Zeena, this fashion-art t-shirt is a companion piece to The Zaum of Zeena art-zine.

It's a magical talisman combining all the symbolism necessary to foster blissful union of the initiate's inner male-female erotic-war deity energies represented by Seth and His secret consort Inanna and presided over by their High Priestess in this era, Zeena.

The human mind is always at war with itself because the inner masculine-feminine polarities are not united but divided. As a result, the inner conflicts translate to outer destructive behavior and actions.

​Donning this article of clothing should be regarded as a ritual homage to the wearer's yet-to-be indestructible, non-dual state of perfect peace and spiritual completion (Š-L-M ). A reminder that Liberation and Enlightenment comes when opposing forces become one.

For those not well versed in tantric practices, Gnosticism, ancient mythology and Magical Theurgy, it's also just a damn cool design to have in your collection!

*After the official release at the LA Art Book Fair, it will be available in Featured Products on this site.

If you are in L.A., be among the first to get one atthe HEINZFELLER NILEISIST booth X21

REVIEW of U.S. TV show Penny Dreadful cites Demons of the Flesh in reference to a character who appears to be based on Maria de Naglowska, the French magician who led The Brotherhood of the Golden Arrow, known by her followers as "the Sophia of Montparnasse" :

"Evelyn Poole might be based on Maria de Naglowska. Born in Russia, de Naglowska headed to France to lead The Brotherhood of the Golden Arrow, which worshiped the devil with sex magic. Naglowska had followers too, "adequately trained woman" who called her "the Sophia of Montparnasse." According to the book Demons of the Flesh by Zeena and Nikolas Schreck, De Naglowska’s “female acolytes were also known as Sophiales, presented as the vanguard of a ‘new matriarchy’… As in the traditional Vama Marga (the belief that that the awakening of kundalini is possible through sex), the female is the deified priestess in the Naglowska cult. She sexually communicates a potentially dangerous esoteric power to the male, a power that cannot be confronted and sustained by anything less than a heroic disposition.”Maria de Naglowska pretty much invented autoerotic asphyxiation with the liturgy, the Trial of Hanging,“in which male adepts were sexually stimulated, then voluntarily hanged until they passed out in a state of controlled semi-asphyxia,” according to Demons of the Flesh. “When the male sex magician hovered in psychic limbo, in a state de Naglowska described as ‘above all delights,’ one of her personally initiated female adherents would position herself on his asphyxia-induced erection. The ligature around his throat would then be released, and as he came back to consciousness, he would experience what de Naglowska describes in her The Light Of Sex: Ritual Of Satanic Initiation as ‘the explosive penetration of the resplendent woman at the sublime moment of holy coitus.” "

Below, we share with you the complete, unedited quotes she gave him, from her book Demons of the Flesh.

[Note: The phrase Feminine Daemonic was first coined by Zeena and Nikolas Schreck in Demons of the Flesh. "Daemonic" in this context does not mean “like a demon” but rather uses the classical greek spelling and definition to mean “spirit,” hence the 'feminine principle' or 'feminine spirit.']

Vedic left-hand path Tantrikas place great emphasis on the vaginal secretions of the female, ingesting them as the pure distillation of feminine energy in rites venerating the shakti's vulva. This fluid, called amrita, or "elixir of immortality" is sometimes believed to be vitalized with magical properties transformative of human consciousness, an agent quickening the process of Kundalini, the awakening of the Feminine Daemonic in the male. The femaleamrita consumed in left-hand path sexual rites is considered most powerful inshakti at the time of menstruation, a fact which has sometimes been compared to the elusive "ruby elixir" referred to in Western alchemical texts as a medicine for the soul. Erotic statuary in India's celebrated Khajuraho Temple depicts scenes of ritual cunnilingus that indicate a strong left-hand path influence. In the Chinese sex-magical tradition, the orgasmic flow of the female partner's Bartholin's gland fluid was also thought to be a substance rich with yin, the feminine life-force potable in a physical libation granting immortality. In both the Taoist and Tantric traditions, great emphasis is placed on the necessity of absorbing the sexual secretion only from consorts demonstrating obvious physical health and vitality. Illness is said to nullify or even poison the effects of the amrita upon the adept. Even within the sometimes austere constrictions of the Islamic world, home to an ancient magical heritage, decidedly left-hand path sex-magical traditions continue to be practiced by Muslim magicians. Often these involve the use of sexual secretions and menstrual blood as sorcerous agents, as in the societally disreputable but fairly common utilization of sihr sufli, which has sometimes been described as a form of Arabic black magic. Such rites require that the sorcerer performs a prolonged act of copulation with a female – as is often the case in the Tantric Vama Marga, the sorcerer's consort must not be married to him. It is also considered preferable if the woman is menstruating, a condition every bit as much of a taboo within Islam as it is in Hindu culture. At the completion of the act, the mingled semen, feminine secretions, and blood are carefully permeated into an absorbent piece of fabric. The erotically charged fabric is then ritually burnt, whilst the sorcerer calls upon one of thedjinn – the demons of Arabic sorcery – to act in his stead in the daemonic realm. This rite, which draws on the veiled, repressed power of the Feminine Daemonic surging beneath the outwardly male-oriented surface of Arab life, is of course considered a defilement by orthodox Islam. As with all left-hand path procedures, it is the taboo-breaking nature of the activity that endows this kind of sexual sorcery with its force.

The Aghori's preferred initiatrix in sexual congress is a menstruating woman of the "untouchable" lower caste, whose menstrual blood mingled with his own semen is sometimes consumed at the conclusion of the rite. This Aghori practice has a secular analogue in a modern Western "sect" dedicated to taboo-transgression; a well-known rite of initiation for the Hell's Angels motorcycle club decrees that the Angel must "earn his wings" by performing cunnilingus on a menstruating woman.

SUPPORT FOR WORKS IN PROGRESSZeena is a self-funded, independent artist working entirely outside of conventional and mainstream art and music cliques.Her livelihood and funding for current audio-visual projects rely on commissioned work, teaching, lecturing, performing, and fan-based support in sales of her creative work, as well as donations. ​COMMISSIONS & BOOKINGSTo book Zeena for:*music and sound art performances *commissioned graphic art or photographyplease write her agent at: info@zeena.eu.

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